Neymar scores as Brazil march on, Uruguay go top

Brazil did eventually put the ball in the back of the net in the 33rd minute after Paulinho guided Neymar’s pass home, but he did it illegally – the referee handing him a yellow for a blatant handball.

FC Barcelona superstar Neymar scored Brazil’s victor in their 2-1 win over Colombia in their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Wednesday morning.

The home side got the ideal start at the Arena Amazonia here when Miranda rose after just 80 seconds to head home a corner and score his first goal in 33 appearances for the national side. Brazil, playing just their second game under new coach Tite, dominated the first half with a high-paced pressing game.

They now sit fifth in the South American qualifying table, two points behind leaders Argentina, with all countries having played seven of their 18 qualifying matches.

And Colombia drew level in the 36th minute after Marquinhos got a touch onto James Rodriguez’s free-kick and headed the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Neymar leads Brazil, which won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with its under-23 team. First-place Argentina has 14 points.

Among the 10 countries in the race for a spot in the 2018 World Cup, Brazil was the only one to snatch two wins in the two last games. “We’ve become tougher and we deserve congratulations for taking the lead again after they pegged us back”.

With this win, the five times world cup victor team Brazil has 15 points from the 8 eight and is now standing on the second position ahead of Argentina on Goal difference.

Neymar’s Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez meanwhile was in similarly sparkling form for Uruguay in their 4-0 thrashing of Paraguay.

But while Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina were left heading the table, Chile were still struggling for answers after a 0-0 draw with Bolivia in Santiago. Ecuador remain in fifth after going down 1-2 to Peru in Lima.

Brazil’s World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign has so far been worryingly patchy, with Tite’s side sitting down in the fifth place playoff position after the first seven rounds.